Individual Religion

Religion.  Many of you hear this word and smile, or shutter, or ask yourself when you were last to confession, or even say please, please never ever say that word again.  At some point in your life, religion has had an impact you, whether it was a discussion with a friend, being told as a child to sit in an uncomfortable pew so you could be told what you should think, having to recite words written many years before you in a foreign language like Latin, or when you where getting married and somebody had to “okay” it.  What ever the reason; you have probably questioned if this all -seeing and all-knowing being really exists since you have never seen “Him” and you are essentially relying on “blind faith. ” You are neither the first nor the last person to question the existence of God, and the character Stephen, from A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man written by James Joyce, asks this very question as he continuously reverts to God’s teachings and then strays away from them within the same breath.

Stephen Throughout his life, Stephen remains uncertainty towards the Catholic Church, his family, and his life’s own meaning. Though the teachings of the Catholic Church do not hurt Stephen, its followers, however, begin to lead Stephen away.  It is not God who brings the ruler down upon Stephen’s outstretched hands in order to punish him, instead it is Father Dolan who paddles him; his mother, a Catholic woman, who denies his “intention” to marry his next door neighbor because she was raised with a different religion background; and priests who do not follow the 10 Commandments in their actions towards Stephen.  Stephen’s Father becomes a drunk, irresponsible and called him a female dog; to which Stephen laughs at his Father’s own foolishness.  Initially, it is mother causes many of Stephen’s problems with women.  For example, it is the zany Dante, who confronts Stephen regarding his religious philosophy with traditional religious ideas.  From the punishment and degradation of those around him, Stephen uses art to sooth his soul and takes the good and the bad to create a form of beauty, thus he is able to create an artist within himself.  Art is   used as an escape, but also as a means to question his own mortal beliefs.  Stephen whole-heartedly desires to become a priest, however he then quickly denounces himself to be the “sinner of all sinners” and he rejects the Church.  “Amen. So be it.  Welcome, O Life! I go to encounter for the millionth time the reality of experience and to forge in the smithy of my soul the uncreated conscience of my race.” The manifestation of Stephen’s own confusion in himself and others, results in the discombobulated writing style Joyce uses to demonstrate Stephen’s journey, leaving the reader just as confused.  To this point, Stephen describes his hands as a object rather than a form which is apart of his own body, helping the reader better understand Stephen’s experience.

Last September, I asked what is the relevance of history or the past and how does history affect the future and who we become.  Stephen is a prime example demonstrating how a person’s past reflects who he will become.  Like me, Stephan was raised Catholic and inspired by the Bible’s teachings.   However, he strays from the Church due to his inability to connect with others and his necessity for individuality.  At one point in his life, Stephen doesn’t believe in the Catholic Church’s veracity or interpretation of the Bible, rather he yearns for individual perspective and independent views towards Christianity and the Bible.  I, like Stephen, have doubts regarding God’s teachings and have wondered about the likelihood or possibility of an all-powerful God who loves me to the depth I have been taught.  Unlike Stephen, I came to a point in my life where I believed with “blind faith” the Bible’s teachings, to find healing and strength within something I can neither see nor feel, instead of believing “ that Jesus was not what he pretended to be.”  It is our past, which makes us who we are; it creates the experiences from which we are  “hearing their shrill twofold cry, watching their flight”.  I can hear and listen, and can learn from my “flight” to grow into the person I will become.

I do not believe that Joyce writes a book to negate or condemn the Catholic Church and its followers; instead his main character goes off the religious beaten path to find his own path, he become an artist finding strength and comfort within art rather than the traditional teachings.  Like Joyce, I am not a fan of religion because many followers twist religious teachings to explain their own bizarre beliefs.  Unlike Joyce, I still believe in the Catholic Church and its ability to save, protect, and guide individuals, though not always in the most conventional way, and to offer safe harbor to the lost and the weary that are trying to find their way.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_LDbM3ecnQ 

Not Invisible After All

Ralph Ellison’s novel Invisible Man begins with the simple statement “I am an invisible man,” (1). Throughout the novel the main character continuously repeats this phrase as a question of doubt or as a statement describing himself. As his position flips-flops and demonstrates his self-doubt and the doubts of society, the uncertainty of this statement prods the main character, like many, to becoming a statement of action or restraint. In a circular fashion, Ellison continues to present the past and present as one, and for the main character (who remains nameless throughout the novel) to question the meaning of his grandfather’s statements as he drives one of the college’s founders on a questionable journey to a shady part of town. The statements and the drive are two pivotal moments in the main character’s life and they launch him into an uncertain future full of questions, rebukes, and efforts to defy society throughout the novel.

To question Ellison, why does the main character not have a name? He remains nameless throughout the entire novel. Perhaps this is intentional so as to fully create an “invisible man” to demonstrate his lack of power as an African American man. Though the main character’s college dean also has the same skin color as the main character, Dr. Bledsoe explains the power of the Negro man, “Power doesn’t have to show off. Power is confident, self –assuring, self-starting and self-stopping, self-warming and self –justifying. When you have it, you know it…The only ones I even pretend to please are big white folk, and even those I control more than they control me…When you buck against me, you’re bucking against power, rich white folk’s power, the nation’s power- which means the government power!” (142) Thus, even with the same skin color, someone must be above and someone must be bellow, it is a fact in the world as Dr. Bledsoe so poignantly points out. Just like the slaves before him, the main character has no power over himself, others do; he has no name, for this is not mentioned; and his existence is dependent on the will of others, as he must do as they please. Dr. Bledsoe even goes as far to say, “You’re nobody, son. You don’t exist – can’t you see that? ...I didn’t make it, and I know that I can’t change it. But I’ve made my place in it and I’ll have every Negro in the country hanging on tree limbs by morning if it means staying where I am, “ (143) and certainly such statements do not help the main character as he attempts to resolve the uncertainty raised by his own question of whether or not he is invisible.

The main character’s defining event leads him to New York, where despite Dr. Bledsoe’s own beliefs, he learns he is somebody as he speaks and attempts to convince others to join a group similar to the Black Panthers group. Other events result in the main character’s “hibernation” underground far from the eyes of society, and during this period of time, the main character finally finds the truth and he is able to answer his own question concerning his invisibility. The main character, like many, found a period of time when he was invisible. However, he did not go unseen, his voice did not go unheard, and he was not invisible. Truth, though slow in coming, brings the words of the main character to life, “When one is invisible he finds such problems as good and evil, honesty and dishonesty, of such shifting shapes that he confuses one with the other, depending upon who happens to be looking through him at the time,” (572) and thus, he was just unable to see the line between two choices, his past and his present became one, rather than one being a place to move from as he moved to the other.

"Take a flying leap"

Who is a stranger? Someone you do not know. Someone who lives by a different social norm. If someone is different can they be trusted? After all, he or she is a stranger. While reading Camus’ The Stranger I was introduced to a character who was not what you would call by normal standards. Most people know the age of their mother, become upset during funerals, show their emotions, and have opinions. Meursault, however, cannot claim any of these previously mentioned attributes. The lack of emotion or sympathy for others lives’ is exemplified by Meursault’s own view that life can be described as redundancy with no changes ever occurring, and thus, he exemplifies the definition of an existentialist. Through a world wind of events, Camus depicts man’s inability to have compassion for one another through descriptions of unusual behavior and actions.

After shooting an Arab man four times, Meursault finds himself in the middle of a trial, from which he becomes more and more withdrawn. Though his murder trial, those participating in the trial ignore Meursault, telling him to “Just keep quiet” and use evidence against him from behavior and actions at and after his mother’s funeral instead of evidence concerning Meursault’s actions when he shot and killed the Arab. During the trial and the jury deliberations leading to the guilty verdict, I questioned whether the happiness that comes from being different is worth it. Meursault is judged by being different and no one understands him; yet in his final days, Meursault comes to the conclusion: “I felt that I had been happy and that I was happy again,” (Camus, 123). Meursault did not need a “nod” from society telling him what he felt and did was correct, and he simply did as he pleased without any desire to adhere to other’s beliefs or opinions. After much thought, I came to the conclusion that those who are truly different can have a have a large impact on the world even though their ending might not be happy. Meursault feels what he likes and does as he pleases without regard for acting “normal.” However, his fate becomes that of meeting the guillotine. Similar to many modern day criminals who commit white-collar crimes like embezzlement or securities fraud, or are repeat offenders f violent crimes, Meursault feels no remorse for his actions. Or Meursault simply does not understand that his actions are wrong.

You could say after reading this book, though we all want to say we are different, most of us do in fact adhere to the written and unwritten social rules that dictate our every move. Only people like Meursault find a different sense of happiness even though he finds he alone enjoys being “differnt.” We are responsible for our actions and our actions create the person we become, those actions however, are primarily in our own hands and we must, “…[be the] first to grab hold and take a flying leap,” (26) into our futures.

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

As children we were taught that our actions speak louder than our words. Throughout my life, I have discovered this lesson to be true; however, it is only now, as I read Crime and Punishment, that I have found a piece of literature that fully demonstrates this lesson.

Why is this important? And what’s the point?

This is a statement I am sure many of us state or think throughout our lifetime, but this is a particularly important issue in literature because it is important to discover the purpose underlying the author’s writing. While researching background information, I found a statement by Nikolay Strakhov that partially answers my question by recalling reviews of Crime and Punishment Strakohov stated, “[it] was the literary sensation of 1866.” Even today, Crime and Punishment is still considered a “sensation” being read by readers of all ages. But why does this novel attract a reader? Many characters lack morals –religious or social- in their actions. Drunkenness, prostitution, lies, and murder are significant to the plot of the novel. And it was written in another time and place, which many readers have never experienced. Yet, on many reputable lists of literature, Crime and Punishment it is a “must” read. So, what is the attraction?

With so many different meanings and implied messages, a reader can find different messages to take away from such a novel. In this novel, Dostoevsky writes of pure human emotion, actions, and the psychology of man when reacting to certain circumstances and the resulting demonstrations of good, bad, and ugly behavior and examples of mankind’s character. Raskolnikov, like many of his fellow Russian citizens, experiences poverty, “He was crushed by poverty, but the anxieties of his position had of late ceased to weigh upon him,” however, it was his actions not his position that leads him to his crime. In the mists of Raskolnikov’s problems, he is able to find truth within himself rather than the lies he previously told himself,“…all his old past, his old thoughts, his old problems and theories, his old impressions and that picture and himself…”and finding the meaning behind his actions that lead him down a dark path are relevant to determing what is important. Many of the characters find themselves acting not for themselves, but for others. Sonia, for example, becomes a prostitute in order to help her family survive and eat; but because her father wastes the money by drinking, all the good that could have come from such a degrading act is undone. Dostoevsky discusses the actions of man and why such actions are performed, “Actions are sometimes performed in a masterly and most cunning way, while the direction of the actions is deranged and dependent on various morbid impressions-it's like a dream.” Some actions are pre-planned and organized thoroughly, but yet, stray from the original intention and cause an unintended result.

When I was little, I was taught the lesson regarding the consequences of actions and words and this helped me create my moral compass. The consequences of the actions and words of the characters in Crime and Punishment helped further this lesson. Actions are within a person’s ability to decide what is right and what is wrong, and to act accordingly. Thus, a person can determine their future from past experiences and decisions they made.

Cordelia's Family Debacle

Have you ever had a disagreement with a family member? What was the extent of the disagreement? Most families would not allow a disagreement to result in banishment of one person from the house. In King Lear, Lear decides to do exactly this, by banishing his daughter, Cordelia, from his kingdom. This decision begins the division of the family only to become increasing large by the actions of his two selfish daughters, Goneril and Reagan, who seek more power thus, deciding to cast aside Lear to gain more power. Although Cordelia could refuse to speak or help her father, she decides instead saves Lear from her brutish sister only to result in her own death.

My question throughout the play, was if Cordelia had too much pride and was too loyal? Cordelia could play her father’s game like the rest of her sisters and gain her piece of his land. But she does not, thus she banished from England. Cordelia could as she intended find her sisters and question them, “Shall we not see these daughters and these sister?” (5.3.8) however, she goes quietly to jail as her father desires. By not find her sisters she instead hangs (although it is questionable whether her sisters would do anything to help her). These actions and decisions could be a debate as to being the key to solidifying her future of death. Cordelia, with the flaws of pride and loyalty, is unable to turn her back to her father and escape to a different future and life; instead she has a fate few would desire. The belief of fortune and fate could be avoidable, “Myself could else outfrown false Fortune’s frown,” (5.3.9) instead Fortune does not look kindly upon Cordelia, thus, she dies. With this solidification of death and having major flaws of pride and loyalty, Cordelia could be considered one of the tragic heroes in King Lear. The tragic death of Cordelia however, does not go unnoticed; she instead like many tragic heroes is able to teach a lesson to all of King Lear’s characters and future generations of readers and viewers of Shakespeare’s greatest tragedy.

I believe Shakespeare uses Cordelia to show the flaws of pride and loyalty as a fault, you can have too much pride and too much loyalty leading you astray. Also Cordelia shows that life is full of choices. The choices we make dictates our future- a choice of this or that- these choices are in our control; however, our fate is out of our control. For example, Cordelia chooses to stay with her father, however, Fortune decides it is her time to die.

In the picture above, in the Elizabethan era’s Fortune wheel is the essence of Cordelia’s fortune and fate throughout the play. Cordelia is born into nobility and marries the King of France - top of the wheel- who values her not for her wealth, but as a person. However, Cordelia- bottom of the wheel- is banished, gets no land from her father, and dies. The wheel, as Shakespeare describes in many of his plays, has a tendency to change when least expected. And we are fortune’s pawns to be moved as pleased however, we can make our choices to thus dictate our character.